Pakistan has stepped up pressure on the Indian security forces by targeting its posts in well-planned firing sequence on the International Border and line of Control (loC) largely because just a window of three to four weeks is left before snow blocks all infiltration routes into Jammu & Kashmir.
While latest intelligence inputs from the ground indicate that militants could not manage to sneak into Jammu during the ongoing ceasefire violations and covering firing given by Pakistan Rangers and Army, officials do not rule out the possibility of some daring attempts by the terrorists in the coming days to come in and engineer ‘fidayeen (suicide)’ attacks.
Explaining the significance of firing on the International Border in Jammu and adjacent areas of Samba and RS Pura, they said all these sectors are very close to the National Highway connecting the State with the rest of the country. In the past, terrorists managed to sneak in and attack a police station and an Army unit before they were neutralised.
After infiltrating from Samba or RS Pura, the terrorists generally carry out ‘fidayeen’ attacks after reaching the National Highway undetected due to dense jungles and riverine terrain. In this backdrop, the security forces have now strengthened the second and third tier of their defences to prevent militants from coming close to inhabited areas or the highway, they said.
As regards the loC, security forces killed 18 militants close to the loC in Tangdhar and Machil sectors in North Kashmir in the last fortnight of September. These sectors are close to Kupwara and other towns and militants are trying hard to infiltrate before weather turns inclement. Snow blocks all the ingress routes and they remain inaccessible for more than three months before weather turns warmer in March end.
In fact, the last three years saw infiltration bids in single digits during the winter months, officials said. For instance the number of infiltrators was five in 2013, three in 2012 and none in 2011 and 2010. For the entire year, the number of infiltrators was 97 (2013), 121 (2012), 52 (2011) and 95 (2010) respectively.
However, the security forces will not let their guard down this time as the Assembly polls are round the corner. Earlier, they were to be held by October end but unprecedented floods in Srinagar valley and Jammu forced the Election Commission to allow the State administration restore normalcy before deciding the election schedule.
The main objective of the security forces in the coming months is to deny militants freedom to operate and terrorise common people and candidates of various political parties.
Incidentally, more than 250 militants are waiting to cross over into Poonch and Rajouri sectors and 350 militants in North Kashmir in the coming weeks. Moreover, nearly 1,000 well trained militants are lodged in 20 terrorist training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and ISI and Pakistan Army have activated more than 30 launch pads for pushing in militants into Kashmir all along the loC, they said.